Survey Finds More Consumers Willing to Turn to Walmart, PayPal for Housing Finance

A full 80% of consumers would consider turning to a major retailer or other non-financial institution for housing finance loans and between 33% and 48% would consider using Walmart or PayPal, according to a survey from a Charlotte, N.C., marketing firm.

The financial consulting group Carlisle & Gallagher surveyed 618 consumers online in September of this year about their housing finance preferences and frustrations with the current system.

The survey found that even though consumers were generally satisfied (81%) with their financial institutions as primary suppliers of financial services, many were also very unhappy with the interest rates and payments on their current loans.

In addition, 56% said the pace of completing the mortgage application and underwriting process was the most painful part of it, while 32% reported they found mortgage issuers hard to communicate with; 31% said they wished they could track their mortgage application through the process and 26% said they found their mortgage issuers gave them untrustworthy advice.

“Consumer attitude is driven by three things, price, service and trust,” said Doug Hautop, senior manager and lending practice lead for CG. “Institutions looking to gain market share must target customer values instead of traditional asset segmentation.”